What’s Mine is Mine!

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Over the last month we have discussed peace from the perspective of the civil rights movement and its sit-ins and bus boycotts. We’ve talked about Jesus being asleep on a boat during a storm. We have talked about being anxious for nothing and not letting our emotions get the best of us and last week we discussed sitting on mommy’s lap and really letting your soul be on vacation in order to find a place to rest, unwind and let go. This week as we prepare to end this pearl – peace and move into our next pearl which is patience, I want to summarize or combine all of these ingredients to peace so that we can each find that peace which is the whole point in our blog discussion.

This quest for peace really comes down to knowing what’s mine is mine. What God has for me is for me! In other words, whatever is meant to be shall be. Yes, having peace is the confidence in knowing that you can sit back in a hammock and relax through process after process, instead of fighting . Now I am not saying that we should do absolutely nothing about things, but there does come a time when you have done all you can do and all you CAN do is wait it out. So why not wait with the confidence in knowing all will be well. After all, peace knows how to wait it out gracefully; as opposed to biting your finger nails and sitting on the edge of your seat. It is while you wait that you must have find that patience or comfort in knowing that whatever is meant for you WILL be done!

So, in order to find this kind of peace in our lives, there are a few areas that I have found must be in accordance. These areas are what I like to call the Peace Fighting Principles. I call them this because having peace in your life is a choice and if we choose to have it we must choose to fight to keep it! So here are my PeaceFightingPrinciples;

1. Spend time only on the things that are in harmony with who you want to be. Make a list of who you want to be; a good wife, a great mother, a wonderful friend, owner of your own business, a person who gives back to the community? Anything that falls outside of that list should not be something that you allow to become your center of attention. It should not be on your radar. I say this so that the things that are not in accordance with who you want to be, will not be things you give your time, energy, attention to so that they will not take your focus off of the things that mean the most to you.

2. Realize who is REALLY on your team? This really speaks to who are your TRUE friends and SHOULD be in your life. I say team because if we are talking about each of us winning at the game of life, who will help you score points and ultimately win? Whoever is not trying to help you work toward excellence, it’s time to let them go. Let go of all the negative folks, all the drama that is only taking away instead of adding something to your life. If your friends are not a starting player in the lineup of your life and don’t score, they need to go. Sitting on the bench ain’t playing, at least that what my coach used to say to me back in the day. Do you think the Lakers, or Celtics or Cavaliers would keep someone on their team that could not score? Or are at least making some kind of contribution to the team?

3. Learn to let it go! If you are holding on to hurt or grudges because of something someone did to you in the past, it is time to let it go!!!! Let go of that negative emotion that is keeping you stuck. This also can be a bad attitude or a negative viewpoint on a certain person, place or thing. Keep in mind that…

“Forgiveness happens naturally as soon as you realize that the past cannot prevail against the power of Presence!” – Eckhart Tolle

4.Make sure you get rid of the baggage. Part of letting go is also realizing how that hurt or grudge may affect how you treat or react to other people going forward. Are you afraid of beginning a new relationship because of what Johnny did or you don’t want to work for another black woman because of the last one you worked for? Whatever it is, in order to TRULY let go you have to get rid of all the baggage that came with it.

5. Take off your cap. Is it you that is putting a limit on who you are and what you can or cannot do? Think about it and if so take off that cap like the lid to your very own bottle so that only the sky can be your limit. Stop having a pity party or thinking you are not equipped to do something and get equipped and then do it!!!! There is nothing like staying stuck in who you wish you were when you can start to work toward it now!! You can even pull in a team member or two to help you get there if you need to. It’s time to stop standing in your own way!!!!

6. Know who you are! Trust the gifts that are uniquely yours. So instead of focusing on what you can’t do, focus on what you CAN do!!! If you don’t know what your gift is, than take some time and explore and find out what you are good at. Also, if you find out your man is cheating on you, please don’t be mad at the other woman, it was HIS choice and after all, it truly has nothing to do with you!!! So KNOW WHO YOU ARE and don’t let it affect you. This same thing applies to, if you lose your job, if a friend stabs you in the back etc…. Ultimately it is trusting who you are, the friends that deserve to be on your team and letting go of negative that will allow you to live in a state of peace as you trust and believe in YOU! Yes GOD don’t make NO junk!!!

These 6 principles will allow you to find peace as you change your perspective to knowing that what’s yours is yours just as what’s mine is mine. You begin to feel good living in your own skin, and knowing this and feeling this, makes living in peace second nature. So ladies take this next week and ponder what are the roadblocks to you being able to enact your very own Peace Fighting Principles? It’s time for you to begin your own fight for peace!!

“Whenever you are sincerely pleased, you are nourished.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“One day we must come to seethat peace is not merely adistant goal we seek, butthat it is a means by whichwe arrive at that goal.We must pursue peaceful endsthrough peaceful means.” — Martin Luther King Jr

“Life is lived in the present. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is yet to be. Today is the miracle.” – unknown